Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. said Thursday it will acquire two Southeast Asian subsidiaries of Netherlands-based consumer finance company Home Credit B.V., located in the Philippines and Indonesia, for a total of about 596 million euros ($622 million).
The Japanese bank group, together with its local subsidiaries, will buy a 100 percent stake in HC Consumer Finance Philippines Inc. and hold an 85 percent share in PT Home Credit Indonesia, it said. The deal is expected to be completed in 2023.
Home Credit offers a unique application that makes a quick lending decision -- in about 10 seconds -- after users enter their personal information such as annual income and occupation, according to the Japanese company.
The app is hugely popular among people in both the Philippines and Indonesia when taking out installment loans for smartphones and household appliances, downloaded 20 million times in the two countries so far. The two Home Credit units have a total of 13 million loan customers, MUFG said.
The acquisition is part of the Japanese financial group's efforts to tap growth potential in Southeast Asia at a time when there is a limited opportunity in the Japanese market that faces a dwindling population.
MUFG acquired Thailand's Bank of Ayudhya in 2013 and Indonesia's PT Bank Danamon in 2019.
